Valve unit or valve guide puller



VALVE UNIT OR VALVE GUIDE FULLER Filed Sept. 4, 1936 I Gttoa wan;

Patented Aug. 1, 1939 UNiTED STATES ATENT OFFECE VALVE UNIT 0R VALVEGUIDE FULLER Application September 7 Claims.

This invention relates to valve-guide-pullers or valve unit pullers.

For the last several years it has been the practice of the manufacturersof several popular priced automobiles to assemble their valves, havingthe usual valve stem, with the valve guides applied about the valvestem, the springs applied about the valve stems and pushing upon saidvalve guides, and the valve retaining washers or keepers applied to thelower end of the spring and, as thus assembled to insert the valve unitin the engine block. After being thus assembled the valve guideretaining element or retainer not shown, having a bifurcated end isapplied by said bifurcated end in the groove I of the split valve guidemembers and extends laterally to bear against the under face of theengine block and so locks the unit in the engine block against movementin the reverse direction.

In order to grind the valves or to replace them it is necessary toremove the entire valve unit in order to remove the spring and otherwisedisassemble the unit. However, before one of the valves needs to bereground or replaced ordinarily it will have been used in the engine fora long period of time, quite possibly for a couple of years or more oruntil the automobile has been run a distance of around twenty totwenty-five or thirty thousand miles. During such long running thesevalve guides Will have become practically frozen into the engine blockdue originally to their close fit and to the fact that oil and carbondeposits will have been formed and baked on and around said valve guidesand over the adjacent parts and faces of the engine block. They quitecommonly become so tightly stuck in the engine block that it is a matterof great difiiculty to remove them, both because of the tightness of theengagement and sealing in of the guides and also because of thedificulty of access to the guides and heretofore in attempting to removethem it has quite frequently been the case that in such removal thevalve guides would be so badly damaged that they could not be replacedin the engine and had to be substituted by new guides, not to mentionthe great loss of time in finally removing the guides.

The present invention has been developed with the above considerationsin mind and has for its primary objects to provide a powerful puller forpulling or removing these valve guides or valve units by simple andcertain operation; to provide a tool by which the pressure is applieddirectly to the lower end of the valve guide and not 9 some other partof the valve assembly 4, 1936, Serial No. 99,475

which might be damaged otherwise; to provide a tool which shall beself-centering on the engine block as applied in use; to provide a toolin which the pull or pressure exerted by the tool shall be applied in astraight line parallel to or coincident with the common axes of thevalve guide bore in the engine block, the valve guide and the valvestem, thus preventing any possible binding due to any inclination tocant or jam; to provide for the unobstructed endwise upward movement ofthe valve head necessary to the removal of the valve unit, without inany manner impairing the centering of the tool in proper position on theengine block; and to provide full Visibility for the operator so that hemay see when the pulling job of an individual valve unit has beencompleted.

In this application I show and describe only the preferred embodiment ofmy invention simply by way of illustration of the practice thereof as bylaw required. However, I recognize that my invention is capable of otherand different embodiments, and that the various details thereof may bemodified in a number of ways, all without departing from my saidinvention; therefore, the drawing and description herein are to beconsidered merely as illustrative and not as exclusive.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tool or puller embodying myinvention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of my tool as oper-- atively applied in thepulling or removal of a valve unit from an engine block, a portion ofwhich is shown in cross section;

Figure 3 is a sectional detail view through the lower end of the tool orpuller, the valve stem and valve guides being indicated by dotted linesto show the relation of these parts when the tool is operatively appliedto pull a valve unit or valve guides;

Figure 4, a top plan view of Figure 3;

Figure 5, a cross section through the C body of the tool to illustrateits rugged construction; and

Figure 6, a fragmentary detail sectional view through the lower part ofthe screw 5 and the 45 upper part of the centering and pressing shell Ito illustrate their mode of connection.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawing, A, designates theengine block; B, a piston; C, an intake or'exhaust port controlled bythe valve E seating on valve seat D; F, the usually longitudinallydivided valve stem guides such as new are commonly in use; G, the usualvalve spring surrounding the lower end of valve guides. and bearing withits upper end against the lower portion of said valve guides and held tosaid valve stem by a valve spring retainer H applied to the lower end ofthe valve stem; and I, the usual annular groove to receive the unitretaining or locking means, not shown, which engages in said groove Iand bears with its upper face against the lower face of the engine blockto hold the assembled unit in proper operative position in the engineblock.

The puller comprises or consists of a preferably forged steel veryrugged or husky rigid preferably C-type body I having a bifurcated lowerend 2 and an internally screw threaded hub 3 at its upper end, the axialline of said hub 3 being in alignment with the bifurcated lower end 2,and preferably in alignment with the center or central portion of saidlower end 2, or with the center of the space between its furcations.

The externally screw threaded pressure screw 5 engages with its screwthreads in the threads of the hub 3 to by such engagement move endwisetherethrough and carries on its lower end between the hub 3 and thebifurcated end 2 the centering shell 1 formed with an interrupted lowerconical face 9 and having one side portion cut out as at i I to permitthe mechanic to see therethrough as the pulling operation progresses.

Preferably this shell I will be a forging or a. malleable casting. Aloop form strap form handle 15 may be provided and may be connected tothe upper end of the screw 5 by a pivot pin such as H to provide an easymeans of rotation of the screw 5 in any position of the tool. Of courseany other means of rotation of the screw 5 might be substituted, thisbeing a matter of no importance, so long as there is some means by whichthe screw 5 may be rotated.

The shell 1 will preferably be permanently connected to the end of thescrew 5 in such manner as to have a universal movement at least througha limited range and a swivel arch. One construction for accomplishingthis end is shown in Figure 6, wherein the end of the screw 5 isinserted in a cavity in the upper end of the shell 1, the outer orexterior face of the screw 5 being annularly grooved and the inner faceof the shell 1 being similarly annularly grooved, there being a splitresilient spring 13 applied in the annular groove of the screw 5, theend of which is then inserted or forced through the upper end of thecavity in the shell 1 until the split ring I3 wedges into transverseregistry with groove in the shell 1 and by its resiliency spreads so asto be disposed partially in the annular groove of the screw 5 and in theannular groove of the shell 1, thus locking these two parts togetherwith some end play permitting relative universal movement and swivelmovement between them. While this construction is preferred it is notessential and any other construction or mode of connection between thesetwo elements permitting a swivel action will suffice, considering theinvention from its broadest aspects. Any construction permitting auniversal movement between these two parts, plus a swivel action willsufiice.

Since the body I with its integral hub 3 and bifurcated lower end 2 isformed from a preferably drop forging some difficulty in forming thebifurcated lower end 2 in the drop forging operation or the forgingoperation has been encountered. On the other hand to form the lower end2 in the forging operation in an intermediate form simply as a solid endand thereafter to grind the material out to form the bifur a d @1161 u dinvolve an excessively expensive grinding operation.

In order to overcome the above difficulty and obtain economy ofmanufacture I have found it advisable to form the lower end 2 as a wideforked end or clearance space, just having the upper edges of theportions 2 as supporting surfaces and then to make a close fit with thevalve stem and to engage the lower face of the valve stem guide bushingI provide the bifurcated plate 4 which rests upon the plane face of thepreviously ground upper face of the bifurcated lower end 2, and saidplate is secured in position by the rivets 8 or any other suitable meansof connection or manner of connection or association. This plate 4 maybe a stamping from a thick plate or thick piece of sheet metal or it maybe a steel forging and it may be heat treated or carborized or have suchother characteristics as may be felt to be desirable.

The mode of use shall be as follows. The valve guide locking means orretainer previously above referred to, having been removed so as topermit the valve unit or valve guide to be removed from the engineblock, the puller will be applied with the conical face 9 of its shell 1seated upon the radially outer peripheral part of the seat D in theengine block of the valve E and with the upper face of the plate 4 inengagement with the lower ends of the valve guide member F and with thevalve stem received in the bifurcation of the plate 4, which firststraddles the valve stem E. As thus applied the pressure screw 5 will berotated through hub 3 to force shell 1 against the engine block and topull frame I with its foot 2 toward the upper end of the engine blockand in so doing to force the valve guides F with it, as well as thevalve E, until the guides F and valve E have moved into the positionsindicated by dotted lines in Figure 2. This is a very simple operationwith this tool, the leverage provided by this tool is am.- ple to breakall a-dhesions of oil and carbon deposits and yet at all times thethrust is uniform, continuous and in a straight line which isautomatically centered with the center of the valve seat D the commonaxis of said seat D valve E and the guides F, so that there is no chanceof damage by any sudden blow or by any misapplication of pressure inother than the proper direction.

It is to be understood of course that the furcation of the lower end 2of the frame I shall be wide enough and at least of such length as tostraddle the valve spring G to such degree that the said bifurcated end2 may center itself with relation to the axis thereof.

I claim:

1. A valve unit puller comprising a rigid integral C-type steel frameformed with a bifurcated lower end and having its upper end portionformed with an internally screw threaded hub, the center of said lowerend being substantially in alignment with the axis of said hub, and abifurcated abutment plate secured against the upper face of saidbifurcated end of said frame, in combination with a screw engaging inthe threads of said hub, a shell, and means connecting said shell to thelower end portion of said screw for universal movement with relationthereto, said shell being formed with a downwardly presented conicallybeveled lower face and hav ing a portion of its side wall cut away, saidconical face being adapted to rest and center itself on the radiallyouter portion of a valve seat in an engine head, said bifurcated end ofsaid frame being adapted to straddle the usual valve spring, saidbifurcated abutment plate being adapted to extend between the coils ofsuch spring and straddle the usual valve stem and engage with its upperface portion adjacent to its furcation the lower ends of the members ofthe split bushing, and said shell being adapted to receive in itsinterior the head of the valve as the abutment plate is forced towardthe shell by the operation of the screw.

2. A valve unit puller comprising an integral rigid frame formed with abifurcated lower end and having its upper end portion formed with aninternally screw threaded hub, the center of said lower end beingsubstantially in alignment with the axis of said hub, and a bifurcatedabutment plate secured against the upper face of said bifurcated end ofsaid frame, in combination with a screw engaging in the threads of saidhub, a downwardly opening shell, and means connecting said shell to thelower end portion of said screw, said shell being formed with adownwardly presented conically beveled lower face, said conical facebeing adapted to rest and center itself on the radially outer portion ofa valve seat in an engine head.

3. A valve unit puller comprising a rigid frame formed with a bifurcatedlower end and having its upper end portion formed with an internallyscrew threaded hub, in combination with a screw engaging in the threadsof said hub, a downwardly opening shell, and means connecting said shellto the lower end portion of said screw for universal movement withrelation thereto, said shell being formed with a downwardly presentedconically beveled lower face.

l. A valve unit puller comprising a rigid frame formed with a bifurcatedlower end and having its upper end portion formed with a hub, the centerof said lower end being substantially in alignment with the axis of saidhub, in combination with a rod disposed in and movable endwise throughsaid hub, means for causing such movcment, a downwardly opening shell,and means connecting said shell to the lower end portion of said rod foruniversal movement with relation thereto, said shell being formed with adownwardly presented conically beveled lower face.

5. A valve unit puller comprising a rigid frame formed with a bifurcatedlower end and having its upper end portion formed with a hub, the centerof said lower end being substantially in alignment with the axis of saidhub, in combination with a rod disposed in and movable endwise throughsaid hub, means for causing such movement, a shell, and means connectingsaid shell to the lower end portion of said rod, said shell beingadapted to receive in its interior the head of the valve as thebifurcated lower end of the frame is forced toward the shell by theoperation of said means.

6. A valve unit puller comprising a rigid frame formed with a bifurcatedlower end, a shell formed with a downwardly presented conically bevelledlower face in operation extending around and receiving the valve andcontacting the valve seat, and means connected to said frame forproducing movement of said shell towards said bifurcated lower end.

7. A valve unit puller formed with a C-shaped frame with its lower endadapted to fit between the coils of a helical valve spring, a shellformed with a downwardly presented conically bevelled lower face inoperation extending around and receiving the valve and contacting thevalve seat, and means connected to said frame for causin movement ofsaid shell towards the lower end of said frame.

HARRY W. KULP.

